When we think of early Renaissance Florence, great masters like Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, and Fra Angelico come immediately to mind. The National Gallery in London is making the case for us to reconsider another important painter, Francesco Pesellino, who was greatly admired in his lifetime has since been overlooked.

Born in 1422, Pesellino as a young boy was taken under the wing of his grandfather Giuliano Pesello, also a painter. By his 20s, he had established a reputation for producing delicate, small-scale work that was laden with rich detail. For this reason, he was often commissioned to make personal objects for private devotion or to decorate domestic interiors. Notably, he spent a period working in close collaboration with Fra Filippo Lippi. When he died in 1457, aged just 35, from the plague, Lippi even stepped in to complete an unfinished panel painting for the high altar of the church of the Holy Trinity in the nearby city of Pistoia.

Francesco Pesellino, The Triumph of David (Detail) (1445–50). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

Other highlights of the National Gallery show include panels depicting the life of David, which are newly conserved for the occasion. These pieces show off Pesellino’s talent for building up complex narrative scenes filled with exotic animals, ornate outfits, and heraldic symbolism set against atmospheric, wintry landscapes. The works are displayed in the round, allowing visitors to get up close and follow their unfolding storyline.

“From what we know of him, if he had lived longer, he would have achieved much more than he did,” was how the great 16th-century Italian art historian Vasari summarized Pesellino’s achievements. Luckily, this bountiful survey of all that the artist did manage to produce in 35 years offers plenty for new audiences to feast on.

Check out more paintings from the exhibition below.

Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and Workshop, Diptych – Annunciation (c.1450–55). Photo: © The Courtauld / Bridgeman Images.

Francesco Pesellino, The Triumph of David (Detail) (1445–50). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

Francesco Pesellino, The Story of David and Goliath (Detail) (1445–50). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

Francesco Pesellino, Virgin and Child (c. 1450). Photo: Alain Basset, © Lyon MBA.

Francesco Pesellino, King Melchior Sailing to the Holy Land (1445–50). Photo: © Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA.

Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and Workshop, Angel (Left Hand) (1455–60). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

Fra Filippo Lippi and Workshop, Saint Zeno exorcising the Daughter of the Emperor Gallienus: Predella Panel (Saint Zeno exorcising the Daughter of Gallienus) (1455–60). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

Fra Filippo Lippi and Workshop, Saint Jerome and the Lion: Predella Panel (1455–60). Photo: © The National Gallery, London.

“Pesellino: A Renaissance Master Revealed” is on at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, through March 10, 2024.

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